Man dead in Seymour crash

Updated 11:29 pm, Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A mangled truck is removed from the scene of a fatal crash on Route 313 in Seymour, Sept. 4, 2013.

A mangled truck is removed from the scene of a fatal crash on Route 313 in Seymour, Sept. 4, 2013.

Photo: WTNH Report It / Danielle

Man dead in Seymour crash

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SEYMOUR -- Police are investigating a crash that took the life of a 51-year-old Southbury man late Tuesday night.

First responders to the 10:44 p.m. crash found the driver trapped inside the burning pickup truck, which had left Rimmon Road, also known as Route 313, and slammed into a tree, said Lt. Paul Satkowski.

Police and firefighters were unable to get near the vehicle due to the intense heat and flames, he said. "Once the fire was extinguished the remains of a human body were located inside of the vehicle," the police spokesman said.

"It was labor intensive," said Fire Marshal Paul Wetowitz, about removing the remains. He said the fire was the result of the impact of the vehicle with the tree. The truck was removed to Auto Works in Seymour. A individual at the company, who asked not to be identified, said the fire destroyed the vehicle including any markings on the outside that could identify the company the deceased person worked for, or owned. Even documents in the glove compartment that might have identified the driver were destroyed.

The crash site is near the Woodbridge town line. The Toyota Tacoma truck was pulling a small landscape-equipment trailer and apparently failed to negotiate a curve, Satkowski said.

The victim has been tentatively identified, the police spokesman said, but officials won't release his name until an autopsy is conducted by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner on Thursday.

Traffic was rerouted around the scene of the crash for several hours immediately following the accident. The Police Department's Accident Reconstruction Team, assisted by the town and state fire marshal's office, and the State Police crash reconstruction squad, is investigating.

The heavily wooded area is not far from the Peat Swamp Reservoir. The road becomes very steep past a waterfall there.